Sept. 5 Readers' letters: The impact of litter, the war in Syria and rewarding workers

From Mercury News readers

Posted:
09/04/2013 07:16:34 PM PDT

Updated:
09/04/2013 07:16:35 PM PDT

City must realize litter is ugly, draws crime

As a member of many boards in San Jose and the state as well as a business owner in San Jose, I was very glad to see your cost and impact analysis of the litter in the community (Page 1A, Sept. 4). I think there are two additional points missing:

1. The consciousness that litter is ugly and disgusting is lacking. Some trucks spew garbage as they violate the practice of covering their loads on the roads. We need steep penalties and education campaigns.

2. Blight leads to crime. Blight includes trash everywhere. It took four weeks and finally my calling the mayor's office for San Jose to pick up quantities of mattresses dumped all along Monterey Road. Within that same time period, copper was ripped out of the light poles and gang graffiti was written on the signs.

Elaine Hamilton

Los Gatos

New mantra: Detroit is dead; al-Qaida is alive

The mantra of the Obama-Biden 2012 campaign was "General Motors is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead." Less than a year later, Detroit is dead and al-Qaida is alive and well and growing larger and more deadly every day.

Sharron Calundan

Hillsborough

Parents, community helped school initiative

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We would like to thank the Mercury News (Editorial, Sept. 2) for highlighting the Seven Trees Community Schools Initiative that resulted in the redesign of Los Arboles and Lairon Schools. This would not have been possible without strong parent and community support, and the involvement of both school's parent leadership groups. We also had the strong support of the staff at both schools. So much so that even though we offered to transfer any staff member to other schools, the vast majority chose to stay and be involved in the preparation and launch of the new designs. Finally, we need to thank Chevron Energy Solutions for their STEM assistance, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and city staff for resolving parent concerns with school safety issues in the redesign, and our long-term partnerships with IBM, Reading Partners, and Catholic Charities.

John Porter

Superintendent Franklin-McKinley School District

Political hostility is result of GOP efforts

Richard Geno (Letters, Sept. 3) reviews 165 years of efforts by the Republican Party in the name of Civil Rights, but he stops his specific citations of Republican contributions with the Voting Rights Act. Not coincidentally, Richard Nixon rode to the presidency in 1968 under the first application of the Republican's Southern Strategy, and key to its success was its appeal to disaffected nominal Democratic voters in the South by de-emphasizing civil rights in all its many manifestations. The coup de grace for any Republican interest in civil rights was the 1991 Congressional redistricting, overseen by George H.W. Bush, where grotesque districts were constructed to place as many non-right-wing voters into such districts and allow Republicans to ignore those voters' interests. The gridlocked, hostile partisanship in Washington is the whirlwind we are reaping for 55 years of indifference merging with hostility by the Republican "mainstream."

Bob Redfern

Morgan Hill

If U.S. bombs Syria, it's a lose-lose situation

We should show restraint and not bomb Syria. There is nothing to gain from this civil war. Both sides in this fight are not sides we want to be aligned with at the end. How do we punish the Syrian government for the use of chemical weapons? We must fine an alternative solution. Sanctions. Try Bashar Assad in world court. Anything besides violence. If we strike, we will further justify their hatred toward us. It's a lose-lose situation.

Kirk Walukiewicz

Campbell

Fast-food strike shows need for strong unions

Ben Field's op-ed ("As goes U.S. labor movement, so goes American middle class, Opinion, Sept, 2) was timely and points out the need for all working people to demand a larger share of the wealth they have created. It is unfathomable that only a very few enjoy the profits of a business. When a corporation claims it can't afford to pay a living wage, it means the corporation would have to cut into its immense profits. A true capitalistic system should reward workers commiserate to their contribution and we know that labor creates all wealth. A living wage with health care benefits is also a bonus for the local taxpayer, because workers no longer have to rely on the county hospital for their health care needs. Hopefully the strike at McDonald's is a positive sign of a resolve by workers to demand a larger piece of the American pie.